Snow Stake Cams…..Coming Soon Snow Stake Page
Kirkwood
Heavenly
Happy New Year
I hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve, welcome to 2023. What a great ski season, so far, with a huge area of the west and central mountains having above average precipitation. This is quite a change from the last 2 La Ninas, where it was the Pacific Northwest having the bulk of the blue shaded area. This is the LRC (Lezaks Recurring Cycle) switching the ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) pattern away from La Nina.
Is it the chicken or the egg? Which came first? The Pattern (LRC) controls the teleconnections.
Forecast Summary
Storm 4 is making its way through the west, exiting Utah tonight and Colorado early tomorrow, while storm 5 breeches Lake Tahoe by late tonight.
It was still snowing hard at the Lake, as of 5 am west coast time. That will clear out and be a beautiful bluebird day by afternoon. Heavenly has 13 on its stake and Kirkwood looks like 3 feet. Palisades is reporting 35″ at their 8000 ft snow stake. Check out the website before you head out to find out what time the resorts open.
Meanwhile, back in Utah, the storm is still raging dumping more snow on top of the already deep powder. Looking at the snow stake cams there is a least a foot all around and about 16 inches at Deer Valley. The snow stakes at Snowbird and Alta have been affected by the strong winds, so I suspect the totals would be similar to Deer Valley.
Forecast
Colorado
Summary
Heavy snow in the southern mountains today with warm base temperatures and upper mountain temps in the mid 20’s. Moderate winds in the 10-15 range with gusts as high as 25 mph. The central and northern mountains will have scattered snow showers today warm temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s at base level. Winds will be moderate, 10-15 with 20 mph gusts.
San Juan and Huntsman Mesa Ranges
Snow Totals Telluride, Silverton and Wolf Creek in the 4-8 range today with a stronger wave hitting after the lifts close. Expect 5-10 before the lifts open Monday. Monday will be cold with moderate winds, 15 mph and wind chills in the upper teens. Powderhorn expect 1-2 today with 2-4 tonight. Winds will be light 5-10 mph with temperatures in the upper 30’s at base level today. Snow continues tomorrow with another 1-3 expected.
Central, Northern, and Along the Divide
Not much happening today, scattered showers with maybe an inch or two. The next wave of energy moves north northeast from the Sah Juans, after the lifts close today. That will bring 3-6 for the central mountains and 2-4 for the northern ranges, with 1-3 for resorts along the divide.
Tomorrow
The stronger part of the system will occur tomorrow, where we are looking at 4-8 for most of the central, northern and resorts along the divide. Temperatures will be around 30 for base level with upper mountain temperatures in the mid to lower 20’s. Light winds 5-10 mph.
For Loveland and Arapahoe Basin, temperatures much colder tomorrow with highs in the lower 20’s, falling throughout the day, settling with lows in the single digits by Monday night. Wind chills near zero, so bundle up!
Utah
Today
Heavy snow today and tonight as storm 4 works it way east. Expect warm temperatures at base today, around the lower 30’s, with colder air by this evening when the backside of the storm works its way through. Expect another foot of snow today for Alta, Snowbird and Brighton, with slightly less at Park city and Deer Valley, 5-10.
Tonight
Expect another 3-5 for Alta, Snowbird and Brighton, with 1-3 for Park city and Deer Valley.
Tomorrow
Cold temperatures with little accumulation until the next system, storm 5, hits on Tuesday. It is not assured to hit, it is tracking south of Utah, but I am expecting wrap around snow to fall on the backside. Stay tuned.
Lake Tahoe
Storm 5 Tomorrow around 10 o’clock
Storm 5 hits tomorrow after 10 am with surprisingly light winds, so you know this system is not that strong. We will go with a general 3-5 throughout the day, with another 3-5 overnight. We will dial in the amounts first thing tomorrow morning.
Forecasted Areas
Pacific Northwest Cascade Mountains
Crystal Mountain, Mount Hood Meadows, Timberline, 49 Degrees North, Bachelor, Mt Baker,
Lake Tahoe Sierra Mountains
Heavenly, Palisades Tahoe, Kirkwood, Dodge Ridge, Donner Ski Ranch
Utah Wasatch Mountains
Alta, Park City, Deer Valley, Brighton, Snowbird, Brian Head
Colorado Rocky Mountains
Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass, Vail, Beaver Creek, Winter Park, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Powderhorn, Ski Cooper, Telluride, Crested Butte, Silverton, Wolf Creek, Eldora, Loveland
